The Vancouver Canucks felt as though it would only be a matter of time.

Even when they were marred in a nine-game losing skid at home, the team was confident in its abilities. For whatever reason, they were just unable to get the job done.

"When we lost nine in a row, we didn't think we were that bad as a team," said Canucks forward Alex Burrows. "We couldn't find a way to win, instead we were finding ways to lose. We knew inside this locker-room that we were doing a lot of good things, we just had to find a way to win. However, we were able to turn it around and we've been playing very well since then."

The Canucks went into last night's game against the Edmonton Oilers as one of the hottest teams in the NHL.

They had won eight of their last 11 games going into their contest against the Oilers and have not fallen at home in regulation since January.

"It goes to show what a tiny, fine line it is between winning and losing," Burrow said. "Confidence is a big part of it too. Just the little details, limiting turnovers, getting scoring chances that you bare down on and put in the back of the net, one big save. All those little details make a big difference between a win and a loss.

"When we were struggling, we couldn't find a way to win a game. We were doing a lot of good things, but when the game is on the line, we couldn't find that extra push and that big goal when we needed it."

Lately that hasn't been an issue.

The Canucks have already clinched a playoff spot and are now in a battle with the Calgary Flames for top spot in the Northwest Division.

"The fact that we're healthy I think helps a lot too," said Burrows. "We have six healthy defencemen that are playing really well and Roberto (Luongo) is doing his thing and we're scoring a lot of goals right now. But we have to make sure we keep going, we can't be satisfied with what we've done to this point."